


Encounter

by isenguards



Category: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Hobbits, Modern Lord of The Rings, Multi, Post-Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings Fusion, i don't know how to tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:59:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22335925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isenguards/pseuds/isenguards
Summary: Modern!AU from Lord of The Rings and Hobbit:“Thorin, who is rasing his nephews Fili and Kili, meets his new neighbor, Bilbo and his nephew, Frodo. Fili, Kili and Frodo become friends with Legolas, son of Bilbo's new friend Thranduil, who interestingly has a terrible relationship with Thorin.” New friendships, loves and companionship are just some of the things that Tolkien's characters are going to find in this alternative universe. How about taking a look at it?
Relationships: Bard the Bowman/Thranduil, Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield
Comments: 2
Kudos: 40





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's quite obvious but I don't own the characters here, and this is my first alternative universe fanfiction and it might sucks, so be careful! :D

“Fili and Kili, for God's sake can you please be quiet?!” It was around the millionth time Thorin tried to shut up his nephews, unsuccessfully.

They were coming back from the super market since Kili wouldn't stop saying that there was a waffle thief in the neighborhood, but the truth was that Thorin ate all the waffles one night to try to calm himself down, like most of the things he does, unsuccessfully. Thorin had a loaf of bread in his mouth while he was driving, Fili was desperate to pee, consequently, writhing in his seat and Kili was screaming because there was a mosquito in the car, Thorin was trying too hard not to lose his mind, which, again, like most of the things he does, unsuccessfully. The noise, the road and the fucking bird who wouldn't get off the road, too much too for him.

He thought of run over the bird but the last time he ran over an animal it took two weeks for Fili and Kili to get over it. Instead, for completely personal reasons, he decided to lose his mind.

“JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY THAT YOU NEED TO BE QUIET?!” And there is. The silence. The lovely silence. “Sorry.” He added.

“Uncle…” Fili said calmly.

“Yes dear…”

“I really need to pee.”

That was enough. Thorin banged his head against the steering wheel and hit the car horn. The sound of the horn startled everyone, including Thorin, well… at least the bird was gone.

[•••]

Finally, home. Fili ran to the bathroom and Kili insisted in help with the market purchases. And once everything was in its place, Thorin threw himself on the couch and sank into it, he was so tired he was almost asleep, when the damn bell rang.

“Goddammit, you can't have ONE minute of peace in this shitty neighborhood, death would be better than this!” And he went all the way to the door cursing. He took a deep breath trying to remember that he couldn't punch the face of the individual who disturbed his peace, he put a smile on his face and opened the door. “May I help?” He smiled, the most forced smile of all time, simply terrifying.

“Uh… maybe I should come back in another time.” The tiny man with his company said.

“Hell no! I mean… Just say it.”

“Well… uh.” He looked up smiling slightly. “I am your new neighbor… Here, next to your house.” He pointed at his house, Thorin didn't bother looking. “I am Bilbo… Bilbo Baggins… And that's my nephew, Frodo.” His little company was hiding behind the man's legs, the first thing you notice as you look at Frodo, are his eyes, blue like the sky, which complemented his black hair. 

The man called Bilbo had curly, messy brown hair, almost the color of honey, with eyes that changed from brown to blue, Thorin didn't know exactly, but they weren't as blue as Frodo's. He was short, not so short compared to Thorin, but considerably short, in general, Thorin found him attractive, but had not realized, he was too busy thinking about how much he wanted to go to sleep.

“Well… if you want to show up any time… The doors are always open.”

“Lovely. Goodbye.” Thorin was almost closing the door, when he was interrupted by Fili and Kili.

“Hey!” Fili said to the little Baggins.

“Hi…” Frodo looked up at Bilbo looking for some kinda of approval, Bilbo just pointed at Fili and Kili with the head, raising his eyebrows. “I am Frodo… Frodo Baggins.” 

“Fili and Kili.” Said respectively. “At your service.” They bowed in awe, making Frodo laugh.

“Uncle can we play with Mr. Boggins?” Kili said looking up.

“I-it's Baggins.” Frodo corrected.

Then, Thorin had a brilliant idea to finally have some peace at home.

“Sure dear.” This time he actually smiled

“They can go to my house, I don't bother.” Bilbo said.

“Lovely! Bye bye! Don't pee at the window, don't turn on the stove and pour alcohol on it, don't eat all of Sr. Baggins' food and please don't throw Mr. Frodo from the stairs. See you later.” He said quickly while kissing Fili and Kili's forehead, closing the door as soon as they're gone. “Finally…”

But it didn't take too long, deep down Thorin knew it was wrong to leave his nephews alone with a man he just met, and his father spirit - thank goodness - spoke louder, and he went towards the neighbors and their nephews.

“Wait! I'm going with you!”

[•••]

Fili, Kili and Frodo seemed to be getting along, they were laughing and without even realizing, Thorin was smiling too. His attention was caught by the sound of Bilbo putting two glasses of beer on the counter.

“You drink?”

“Yeah.” Thorin said already drinking.

“I've invited someone else from the neighborhood I met.” He announced, Thorin just nodded looking at his nephews. “So… you're an uncle too.”

“Uh… yeah. I've been taking care of them since they were… babies I guess.” Thorin said taking another sip of the cold beer. “You know… I love them…” He stopped for a while. “But I would also kill them.”

“Nice.” Bilbo responded by taking a sip of his drink to disguise the mood that rose there.

“And you?” For some reason, Bilbo got surprised to be asked something.

“Yeah well, I take care of him for a long time. We decided to move from our old city to try to find some better life. Frodo didn't have many friends back there.”

“Well, there are some nice people here, I mean… kids. Not all, there's a duo of idiots also, Pippin and Merry, I mean, that's not their real names, but that doesn't matter, the boys are bad news, they're good, almost kind, but wherever they go, there's trouble.”

And Bilbo laugh. Thorin joined his laughing.

And then the bell ring.

“Oh it must be the other guests. You might know them, from the white house next to mine.”

And Thorin froze. Please don't.

Bilbo opened the door to reveal a very tall figure with big silky hair, Thorin looked at the kids, they had a new member at their little group, and he knew exactly who was the little boy. Thorin didn't mind, he liked the boy, he was nice, didn't had much friends and he seemed quite happy playing with the other boys, his real problem was the father. 

Thranduil fucking Oropherion.

“Hey! Glad you came!” Bilbo said enthusiastically.

“The pleasure is all mine.” Thranduil's happiness was cut off as soon as he saw Thorin at the counter. “I see we already have company.” Thranduil said as he looked Thorin, people would confuse the look Thranduil gave Thorin with desire, but it was pure hatred. The purest hate of all.

“Um… yeah, this is-” Bilbo started, but the tall man interrupted him.

“Hello Mr. Oakenshield.” He spoke in a low, threatening tone almost.

Thorin just raised his beer glass in awe, didn't bother to look the other man's eyes.

Bilbo was confused. Had two options he had considered: they hated each other, something close to Batman and Joker's relationship, or they really wanted to fuck each other. Well, the second was kinda right, if you consider punch, cut each other's perfect hair and set fire on someone the same thing as 'fuck', then you can say the tiny man was right. Bilbo decided not to get involved in their personal lives and their 'relationship'.

“Good. You already know each other.”

“Not enough in my opinion.” Thorin said to himself, but Bilbo listened and what he understood from this was completely different from what Thorin meant.

In Bilbo's mind they desired each other. But what Thorin actually wanted was to punch Thranduil in every single part of his body, and after maim them and bury. Sounds psycho but Thorin's therapist said is perfectly common to think this, but would be good if he only kept this in mind.

Bilbo didn't know what to do, so he offered Thranduil a glass of beer, which he denied.

“You have wine instead?”

“Oh, let me check out…”

And Bilbo left, leaving Thranduil and Thorin alone.

“How's the little Legolas?” Thorin started.

“Good.” For a moment Thranduil thought not to respond, but wanted to be better than Thorin in everything, including behavior. “And your nephews?”

“Great.” 

“Legolas seems to like them. He doesn't have many friends, he's a good boy, I don't get why kids don't like him.” Thranduil said looking to the garden, where the children played some kind of weird game involving climbing on each other's backs, probably Fili and Kili had suggested. 

‘Because the father is a fucking freak…’ Thorin thought.

“Legolas is very polite and gentleman with everyone.” Thorin admitted. “He definitely didn't get it from you.”

Thranduil move his head to face Thorin slowly.

“Excuse me?”

“Hm?” Thorin said drinking the last sip of beer.

“Listen you fucking bastard.” Thranduil pointed his fingers to Thorin as he walked in his direction.

“I am all ears…”

“Don't play the mockery with me.”

“Why?”

Thranduil looked Thorin up and down and decided not to waste his time. Bilbo returned with a bottle of wine at the same moment. 

“Oh… perfect!” Thranduil said looking at the wine.

Bilbo took a glass and handed it to Thranduil, the atmosphere would have remained terrible if Legolas had not walked in.

“Ada?” The young boy with silky hair, also kinda long and blue eyes said, making Thorin remember that Legolas had this weird way to call the father. 

“Yes my little leaf?” Thranduil answered bending down to get up to his son.

The young boy was about to say something, but instead he looked at Thorin, he smiled to the man he alreay knew and Thorin returned the smile, then Legolas finally returned his attention to the father.

“I'm hungry…”

“Oh.” That's all Thranduil said.

Bilbo decided to look for something in the kitchen cabinet, and came back with a jar of random mixed cookies. He handed it for the light-haired young boy. Legolas smiled thanking just before run to the garden to show his friends what he had achieved.

Thranduil could not hold back, so he smiled to see the beaming son. 

“You have a heart after all…” Thorin joke.

Thranduil looked at Thorin with a look of disgust.

In the garden, the boys played hide and seek.

“… seven, eight, nine, TEN!” with the countdown finished Frodo went looking for his new friends. Fili was was hiding behind a thicket, Legolas climbed a tree and was holding tight to the trunk, and Kili ran behind one of the garden chairs, he tried above all to hold back his laughter.

Frodo started looking behind the thickets, that's where he found Fili, who was trying to move from one thicket to another . The second to be found was Kili, but what unmasked his hiding place was his laugh that he couldn't contain. But no matter what they did, they couldn't find Legolas, the little boy on the tree laugh at the boys, until he lost his balance and fell, the fall would have been horrible if it wasn't for his savior, a boy he did not recognize grabbed Legolas.

“Legolas!” The other boys ran towards both of them, surprised and curious to know the identity of the superhero who had saved Legolas.

Legolas was still in the savior's arms, he looked at him and met his blue but also green eyes. the savior, who was a considerably chubby boy and probably older than the others put Legolas down and smiled at him.

“Hey you!” Kili started pointing at the boy. “How did you caught him so fast?!”

“I ... well I was behind the fence, I saw you guys playing… and I- I really wanted to play too… but well I- I'm not usually good at starting friendships… so I tried my best to build up courage, bu- but I couldn't, and when… when he fell my instinct spoke louder and I grabbed him.” He said between breaks but still kinda fast.

“You're amazing! And strong too!” Fili admitted. “What's your name?”

“Samwise Gamgee, I live three houses from here.” 

“Samwise is too complicated… Can I just call you Sam?” Frodo asking smiling and Sam nodded, he seemed quite happy to have a nickname. “I am Frodo.”

“We're Fili…” 

“And Kili!”

“And I am Legolas, thank you a lot for helping me.”

“Oh…” Sam blushed, it seems like no one have ever spoke to him. “It was not a big deal…”

“Of course it was!” Frodo said, he seemed the most happy to meet Sam. “You're like a superhero! Like... just like Superman! My uncle told me he is super strong and fast and very kind! Hmm... You need a superhero name... you're… You're Samwise the Brave!”

Sam was probably the oldest in the group, but he was ashamed as easy as a baby.

“Would you like to play with us?” Legolas invited.

“Uh… yeah!” Sam said after a moment thinking

And now they were a quintet, playing and laughing together, Thorin, Bilbo and Thranduil only later realized the presence of another child, when they sat down to lunch, they thought another child's presence would be bad, but Sam was polite and did his best to help others, he delighted everyone.

Thorin and Bilbo got along very well and Thranduil seemed to like Bilbo's presence. For Thorin's surprise, the day with the new neighbor and the Barbie Girl wasn't that bad.


	2. The Lists

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhul! i'm back. anyway, if there's any mistake here i'm really sorry, i'll be traveling tomorrow and is a rush here at my home... anyway, enjoy! xoxo

“And what about the anger problem?” The middle-aged man asked Thorin that was sunk on the couch in the therapy room.

“Hm…” The noise sounded low because Thorin had his hand in front of his mouth, since his head was resting on his arm. “The same, you know… problematic.” He said using the hand that no longer covered his mouth to gesture.

“Ok. What exactly irritates you the most? I mean, what makes you most want to let go of your anger?” The therapist gestured lightly with his hands while saying.

Thorin didn't even think twice. 

“A guy. My neighbor. Thranduil.” 

“And why does he irritates you so much?”

Thorin stopped, in all these gigantic eight years of rivalry, Thorin didn't know exactly why Thranduil pissed him off so much.

“I don't know… I think… He? I just hate everything about that guy!” He tried to explain.

“Why? What do you hate about him? I want words.”

“I don't know…”

“Listen, I want you to make a list. A list of things you don't like about him, and then, you can figure out things that we can actually work with. And also, try to find something that calms you down. Alright?” Thorin nodded. “And there's also something that I really wanted to ask you. Why don't you go out? I mean… with someone else… a date.” He finally asks.

“Oh… we never talked about it before, right? Uh… it's complicated. I've never… dated, in fact.”

“What? You're not serious, are you?”

“I am perfectly serious. The thing is. I am demisexual.” Thorin spoke and felt a weight come off his back, he'd never said that to anyone before. “It means that I don't feel sexually attracted to people I don't have a special connection with, and you know… I never had many friends, I mean, I-I had, but not real friends. You get it?”

“I do.” The man thought, trying to find the best way to ask what he wanted to know. “But you feel attracted to…” He was cut by Thorin.

“Men.” Thorin said quickly and nervously. “Only men.”

“Alright. Anyway, I suspected already. That… yo-you were gay.” 

“Oh… ok.”

“Yeah… that's what I'm paid for right?”

“You end the magic of therapy saying that.”

“Sorry.”

[•••] 

Thorin had left Fili and Kili at Sr. Baggins' house, now he rang the doorbell to be able to enter. Bilbo came to open the door, and for Thorin's surprise there was no screamings or anything, in fact, there was no sound at all.

“They were watching cartoon and then fell asleep.” Bilbo said walking towards the bench near the living room.

Thorin sat on one of the benches, sitting across from Bilbo, he noticed a shiny ring on his right ring finger.

“You have someone?”

“I'm sorry?” Bilbo asked soon noticing Thorin's gaze fixed on the ring. “Oh no… this is, just a ring, very special to me… probably one day I'll give it to Frodo. I bought in my old city, a random guy sold me that…” Bilbo stopped, trying to remember a detail. “Sméagol?? Yeah! That was his name. I just accepted because the guy was weird, probably a heroin addict.”

Thorin laughed and nodded.

“But no… I don't have someone. Maybe someday I'll find the right guy.” Bilbo said distracted.

“A guy?” Thorin asked, surprised.

“Oh… yeah I-” Thorin cutted him.

“No, no, it's alright I… well… I am gay too.”

“Oh.” 

And Bilbo thought, there was a time that he had said this to anyone, and there was also a time that he didn't relate with any man. He concentrated all his charm and charisma, and decided to flirt with Thorin.

“And you? Have anyone?” Bilbo said, leaning and smiling, thought if it was obvious his intention, then to reinforce, he straightened his hair, showing interest.

Small detail: Bilbo was terrible at flirting.

“Ah… I-” Thorin didn't know what to say, it was obvious that Bilbo was flirting with him, but still, Thorin was not attracted to him that way. “Look I- I am demisexual.” He explained, praying that Bilbo would understand.

“Oh! I'm- I'm so sorry. I- I really am.”

“No, it's uh… it's alright. Really.”

The atmosphere would have continued to be terrible if Kili had not appeared.

“Uncle…” Instinctively they both looked, although they knew who it was. Kili walked over to Thorin, rubbing his eyes with his hand. 

“Hey my parasite...” He said picking Kili up on his arms.

“We were watching Woody Woodpecker and then we all slept.” He explained. “I just woke up because Fili snores too much. He definitely got it from you uncle.”

Thorin was embarrassed, he tried to use his eyes and move his head slightly to point at Bilbo, showing Kili that this was not a good time to talk about it. But Kili continued.

“You sound like a washing machine at night uncle Thorin, once, Fili woke me up thinking he heard an earthquake, but it was you snoring.”

“Ok go wake up your brother.”

Thorin was too embarrassed to say anything, so it was Bilbo who took the initiative.

“I speak while sleeping.” He admitted and Thorin laughed. “It's true! I say things like ‘I need to buy pasta…’ or ‘did I take the clothes off the clothesline?’ It freaks Frodo out everytime.

“So… what do you work with?” Thorin asked.

“Well actually, tomorrow will be my first day at work as a cook. Frodo is going to the new school tomorrow and I'm going to take the time to work part-time.” He explained while playing with his own fingers. “What about you?”

“I'm a crossfit trainer.”

“That makes sense actually, you're a…”

‘Hot’ That's what Bilbo thought, what he wanted to say.

“You're a big guy, you know…” But that's all he said.

“You should show up at my work, if you want…”

“I'm not really into that but… why not, right?”

“Uncle Thorin!” Fili screamed while running towards Thorin's arms. “I had a really nice dream.”

“What did you dreamed about?”

“That we were dwarves!”

“Like the ones from Snow White?”

“No uncle! We were warriors! And you were the King!” Fili said excitedly.

“Really?!” 

“Yeah!”

“Ok now it's time to go little demons of my personal hell.”

They said goodbye to Bilbo and went to their own home, where Thorin prepared them for dinner, and then, bedtime.

[•••]

On the next day, at morning, Bilbo and Frodo were at the bus stop where Frodo would take his way to the new school, the young man was obviously nervous, and Bilbo as much as he was. Frodo made imaginary circles with his foot on the ground while facing it, his attention was caught by a familiar voice.

“Mr. Frodo!!!!” It was Samwise, the boy ran towards Frodo smiling brightly waving his hand.

“Sam!” Frodo smiled so big that Bilbo was even surprised, but smiled with his nephew.

“We're going to the same school! Oh god! Amazing!!”

“Yes!!” Frodo's animation was short-lived, that's when he noticed something. “But we won't be at the same class right?”

“Oh… no, we won't.” Sam noticed his friend's dismay and tried to cheer him up. “I am on 2nd grade! I can teach you a lot of things! You'll be the smartest guy at your class!”

“Yes! It would be awesome!”

When the bus arrived, Frodo was not so nervous anymore, he was quick, leaving Bilbo behind.

“Hey! I love you! Be careful ok?” Bilbo almost screamed.

“Love you too uncle! See you later!”

[•••]

As he got off the bus, Sam held out his hand to help Frodo down, so they started walking.

“Look.” Sam said pointing at a tree. “At break time I usually come here, you can stay with me if you want to.”

“I will!” Frodo said smiling at the friend.

They walked down the hall, Sam seemed to know where he was going, that's when they arrived in a room where the door was number 2.

“And that's your room Mr. Frodo. I'm going now, see you later!” Sam waved goodbye, leaving Frodo on his own.

Frodo walked in the room, just to hear a loud scream.

“Watch out! Watch out! WATCH OUT!!!” Two boys, one crouched and the other on the back of the first, frantically ran towards Frodo, Frodo got out of the way and the two boys stopped hitting the wall, then laughing out loud.

The boys stood up and looked at Frodo, looked at each other and looked at Frodo again.

“Hello…” One of them said.

“Hi…” Frodo replied quietly.

“I am Meriadoc Brandybuck, but you can call me Merry.”

“And I… am Peregrin Took, but you can call me Pippin.”

“Hey, I- am Frodo Baggins.”

They said nothing, just continued to stare at Frodo, as if expecting something more.

“But… You can call me Frodo…” Frodo said as if he were questioning himself.

“Awesome! Nice to meet you Frodo!” Merry said shaking hands with Frodo.

“Delighted to meet you…” Pippin finished.

“We…” Merry said putting a hand around Frodo's shoulder. “Are the coolest guys here Frodo.”

“Really?” Frodo asked raising his eyebrows.

“Of course! Come on, come sit with us.” Pippin said, calling Frodo with his hand to the back of the room.

“Why don't we sit here?” Frodo said pointing at three side by side tables in front of the class.

“You're brilliant!” Pippin exclaimed.

“Uh… ok.” 

[•••]

A while later, a tall woman comes in - of course, compared to Frodo, anyone was tall, but the woman was really tall - with long blond hair and a pale face.

“Hello guys.” She looked around and stopped her eyes in Frodo. “You're the only one who's new here.” She smiled at Frodo, bending down to stand at Frodo's table. “Would you like to introduce yourself for us? Or just for me?” Frodo thought, and pointed shyly to the woman, indicating that he wanted to introduce himself only to her. “Alright. I am Galadriel, your teacher, and you?” She said quietly, but Frodo still could hear her. 

“I am Frodo Baggins.”

“And what do you like to do Frodo?”

“I like to hear stories, about adventures. My uncle tells me every night.”

“Really? You live with your uncle?”

“I do.”

“Nice. Ok, if you need anything, tell me ok?”

Frodo nodded and the woman stood up, starting the class.

The bell rang, indicating that the break had begun, Merry and Pippin got up and looked at Frodo.

“Hey, we're going to do some really cool stuff. Wanna join us?” Merry said.

“What kinda of cool stuff?” Frodo asked, he really see them as 'cool'.

“Look.” Pippin said taking something from his pocket, it was a rubber cockroach. “We'll throw it inside the bathroom stalls and see people's reaction.”

“Hm ... No thanks, maybe another day. ” The boys shrugged and left, Frodo opened anxiously his lunchbox to see what Bilbo had put for him. There were two sandwiches, and Frodo was excited, as he wanted to share the snack with Sam. He closed the lunch box and ran out of the room to run into the teacher.

“Oh! Frodo! Where are you going in such a hurry?” Galadriel said looking at the boy.

“See my friend.”

“Merry and Pippin?”

“No… my other friend, from the 2nd grade, his name is Sam, Samwise.”

“Oh Samwise… Well, you should go then.” She said saying goodbye to the boy who ran to the tree Sam had shown Frodo earlier.

Sam was sitting under the tree, with a paper in his hands, Frodo smiled and walked over to his friend.

“Hey Sam!”

“Hello Mr. Frodo!” The boy with black hair sat next to the blonde, and Sam smiled at him. “Look!” Sam held out the paper revealing something that Frodo couldn't read, he looked at him confused. “It's your name! I can teach you! Only the most smart guys know how to write their names.”

“Teach me!”

Sam handed Frodo the paper and pen he had set aside, meanwhile Frodo offered Sam one of his sandwiches.

[•••]

Upon arriving home, Frodo ran to show what Sam had taught him.

“Amazing dear! Can I hang in the fridge?” Frodo nodded and Bilbo used a magnet to hang the paper on the fridge. “Any homework?”

“Yes. Teacher Galadriel asked us to do a list of things we like the most, we need to draw it.”

“Hm… any idea yet?”

“Yes! Can I do it already uncle?”

“After lunch, yes, now you're going to take a shower, and change your clothes, because I'm already heating up lunch.”

[•••]

Thorin opened the door and went to the backyard, where he sat on the porch with a notepad and pen in his hand, to his surprise, Frodo was there too. 

“Watcha doin' there?” Thorin asked.

“A list.” Frodo said looking at Thorin.

“Hm, so am I.” He said showing his notepad.

“You have a blank paper.” Frodo corrected

“I have no idea of what to write.”

“What is your list about?”

“Uh… grown people thing... And yours?”

“Things I like the most. I need to draw it. Why don't you draw yours?”

It wouldn't be appropriate since everything that came to Thorin's mind when he thought of Thranduil was how much he wanted to hang him to death.

“Hm nah…”

“Well…” Frodo began by drawing up his finished drawings. “Let things pop up to your mind, don't think too much.”

“You know, that's not a bad tip kiddo.” Thorin said turning his head to the street once more.

“You're welcome. Bye bye Sr.!” Frodo said going to his house, then entering it.

Thorin decided not to think so much, he was sure that things would come to his head, He got up and went into his house again.

[•••]

“Well, that's not a bad list Thorin, very good.” 

The week passed and Thorin was able to write a list of the reasons why he hated Thranduil so much, he was very proud of himself, and was able to contain his anger at the writing.

“But… why is ‘Wine’ one of the topics?” 

“I hate wine and Thranduil loves it. That's it.” Thorin with his legs spread and his head resting on his arm said in a low voice.

“Alright.”

“Actually…” Thorin said now with hands on knee and body bent. “My new neighbor's nephew helped me a lot in it. He said I shouldn't think about too much, that things would ‘pop up’...” Thorin closed three fingers together and opened quickly, simulating a 'pop'. “Into my mind.”

“New neighbor?”

“Uh yeah… he- he actually tried to flirt with me. Pretty cute… but y'know, I don't…” The therapist nodded and saw something really rare. Thorin smiled.

“What about the thing to calm you down? It's not here.”

“Oh damnit! I forgot it, sorry.”

“Don't worry, we'll figure something out.” 

And the middle-aged man smiled, perhaps the new neighbor might be able to help Thorin as much as therapy.

Who knows.


	3. Bard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New in the city, unemployed, three children and a new enemy, how could this possibly go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hellooo…!! so, the only think i'd like to say is that since i couldn't find bard's real last name, let's say he's bard laketown alright? if anyone find something about his last name please let me know ok??? and sorry for any mistake, feel free to correct me!! thank you, xoxo.

The road was at the end and all that was left was a long road, it was when Bard decided to slow down and close his eyes slightly. 14 hours driving end anyone, of course there were breaks, but he was still tired.

He went straight road and without noticing he was already in town. After pass the super market Bard kept relaxed, it was when he saw a small figure in front of the car, crossing the street. With the greatest speed he managed inside himself, Bard braked the car, waking up his children.

A pause in the story, let's go for a little context.

Bard Laketown - also known as The Dragonslayer because of his skills as attorney general, which is his job - was a single father moving from his hometown with his three children: Bain, the oldest, Sigrid, the second oldest and Tilda, the youngest. He divorced from his wife there's one year, and really interesting fact about the short man with black and big hair was that in all his life, he only dated law students, his ex-wife was a lawyer, and he dated prosecutors, magistrates, other attorneys and even a judge.

Another really interesting fact: 

Thranduil is a prosecutor.

Now, back to the story.

Bard got out of the car towards the child as soon as possible, meanwhile, his children inside the car raised their heads to see what had happened.

He knelt in front of the boy who looked shocked.

“Hey, I'm sorry little one… are you alri-” He was cutted by another scream.

“What the fuck are you doing? Get away from my son!” A man ran towards them and Bard stayed on alert.

Another thing about Bard, because he is the father of three children, he has very keen parenting instincts and would not let someone take a child without being sure they really knew each other.

“You know this man?” Bard whispered to the child.

“Yes! He's my father!”

Bard didn't have time to say anything else, the child's father came and started screaming.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME? YOU COULD HAVE RUNNED HIM YOU FUCKING CRAZY!!” The man kept screaming, he cursed things that Bard didn't even know existed, still, he remained quiet.

“Sir I am not in a position to apologize, is there any way I can make it up to you?” Bard said.

The man picked his son up and left, Bard waited until they were out of sight and got in his car.

“Da', what happened?” Bain asked turning to face the father in the next seat.

“I have no idea… but I learned a lot of new bad words.” At first, Bard looked at the road, then he turned to Bain and smiled, the son followed the smile, deepening it to become a laugh. 

Holding his son on his lap as if he would never hold him again, the tall man looked at his little one who looked recovered and asked him. 

“Are you okay my little leaf?”

“Yes ada, I'm fine…”

He sighed and in a whisper said to himself.

“Fucking crazy man.”

[•••]

“Sigrid!” Bard called his daughter from his room, she soon walked in.

“Yes da'?” 

“How do I look?” He said spreading his arms, giving his daughter a view of the navy blue suit he wore, with a bow tie and black shoes.

“Good, but uh-” She approached and removed the tie her father wore, throwing it on the bed as if disapproving it. “Casual with a touch of charm and formality… much better now!” 

“Thank you…” Bard was visibly nervous, which was rare, he would have his third job interview since arriving in the city. Bard trusted his skills, but still, he was nervous.

“Hey da'… you're going to be great at it ok? You can do this!” She encouraged him.

With a smile, Bard hugged his daughter, he kissed her forehead and said goodbye to her, Sigrid was always responsible for the siblings, even if she wasn't the oldest, she had more skill with them, besides being stronger.

Bard took a deep, heavy breath and went on to the firm where the interview would take place, with luck - or not - not far from where he lived now. Once there, he straightened his clothes and went over to where someone indicated.

When the interview started, monotonous questions were all he received, not unlike any other interviews, he answered calmly and without thinking too much, but at the same time appropriate responses. As the interview went on, the questions changed, and at all times Bard showed his best, keeping calm.

Bard was nervous, but he was always good at hiding his feelings, masking them and preventing others from seeing through him without his permission. The only one who knew exactly what Bard felt was Sigrid, she was always good with people, and knew her father. Deep down, Bard was grateful for that, hiding his feelings and pretending to be strong all the time is painful, but not with Sigrid, countless times he cried in front of his daughter, she was his safe haven, all three of them were.

At the end of the interview, Bard left after a brief farewell, he took the elevator and went to his car, all they told him was that if they didn't call in two weeks, Bard could stop waiting, he wouldn't be hired. And that was his fear, Bard is very anxious, and anxiety attacked whenever he let his guard down, and especially when he was nervous, or yearning for something.

He tried to get those thoughts out of his head with a nice Bob's milkshake. Oh… that always worked.

[•••]

The week passed and Bard tried to calm himself down as much as possible, wondered if he had done something wrong, if he smelled bad, did he say something inappropriate? These thoughts did not leave Bard's head. His legs moved frantically, in tune with his anxious thoughts, until Tilda appeared with the phone in her hand.

“Da'... someone is calling for you.” She said handing him the phone.

Bard covered the bottom of the phone with his hand and took a deep breath, then answered it.

“Hello, this is Mr. Laketown.” He hated mystery, never liked to wait, especially because he was too eager for it, and the silence on the other end of the line killed Bard internally.

“We are calling from the firm you sir came a week ago, it is with great pleasure that we accept your services with us starting on monday, thank you very much Mr. Laketown, see you soon.” Without saying anything more, the call was ended, Bard said nothing and just turned around, finding his three children looking at him anxiously. “I got it! I got the job!” A mixture of screams broke out in the bedroom, while Bard and his children celebrated.

“Da', what about we eat in a nice place today?” Bain asked.

“Let's wait for me to get my first payment ok?” The man said with a forced smile.

“That's why I always say: marry a rich man and use all his money.” To everyone's surprise, these words came out of Tilda's mouth, shocked looks and mouths open in perfect ‘o’ addressed the little girl who smiled with pride at what she said.

“I think if you killed him and then got his money would be better…” Sigrid added, everyone laughed, maybe a nervous laugh from Bard and Bain, the fear of living with them would sooner or later become real.

“Women can be really dangerous…” Bain said as he swallowed when he saw the sisters' laugh - which at least in his head - was sadistic.

“We never know when they're being sarcastic…” Bard completed, with a tone of dread in his sentence.

[•••]

The days passed and monday arrived, as on the day of the interview, Bard was nervous, but this time, excited at the same time.

Entering the firm, which by the way, seemed much bigger than the last time he went, there was a woman, who appeared to be a secretary, who addressed him, smiling.

“You must be Mr. Laketown.” She said smiling and giving a brief bow.

“That's me.” The man said extending his hand to the woman for her to hold, she did.

“You should know that you will be staying with one of our prosecutors, only in his room, you will not always work together, but his room had space and we put you next to him, to be honest ... he can be a bit of a hardhead sometimes.” The woman explained as she guided Bard to the elevator, pressing number five, which Bard memorized.

“May I know his name?”

“Oh of course! How silly of me, his name is Thranduil Oropherion, he goes by the last name, Prosecutor Oropherion.”

“Alright.”

There were few rooms down the hall, most were open, while others had glass doors, allowing them to look inside. but not Thranduil’s, his room was one of the last, although it was made of glass, you couldn’t see the interior, well, it wouldn't be hard to remember where it was. A sticker on the door showed the name by which the prosecutor answered, ‘Prosecutor Oropherion’, it was written there, But just below, there was a paper that covered a small part of the door.

“Pull it out.” It was all the woman said, Bard pulled the paper to reveal another sticker similar to the one above where it said ‘Attorney General Laketown’. 

He didn't avoid it, and smiled with satisfaction, it seemed that things were going very well.

At least, it was too good to be true.

Upon entering the room next to the accompanying secretariat, Bard spotted the last person he wanted to see. 

The father of the boy he almost ran over days ago.

It was undeniable, Thranduil was a very attractive man, he was standing when Bard came in, he was looking at a small pieces of paper in his hand, he was wearing glasses with a thin, transparent frame, a white dress shirt that marked his body, along with black pants, all very normal and formal, but to Bard he looked even more attractive that way. Right behind him was the coat rack, with his jacket and the prosecutor's suit. Heavens he should look even better with the prosecutor's suit.

The man, already aware of the new company he would receive, looked up with a welcoming smile, which faded when he recognized Bard.

Nothing more was said, not even a ‘hello’, the woman whispered a ‘welcome’ to Bard before leaving, leaving the men alone.

Bard went to the empty table, except for a sign with his name on it, put the suitcase he carried on top of it, and he could still feel Thranduil's gaze penetrating his skin.

Bard thought, and turned to the man who was staring at him deathly.

“I know we started badly, but we need to resolve this, we need to get it right, okay?”

“I'm not really in the mood.” Thranduil replied, dropping the papers on the table and crossing his arms.

Bard snorted

“I'm serious.”

“So am I.”

Yes, it was too good to be true.

[•••]

The days passed, and Bard couldn't get along with Thranduil, he tried everything, pie, cake, massage, coffee, just about everything, but Thranduil seemed to ignore him even more.

Bard had forgotten that his job was tiring, but for now, no job required them to leave the office, until on a thursday morning, there was something urgent waiting for them.

The case that was given to Thranduil was an attempt to kidnap minors, children actually. The defendant reportedly took them to an abandoned site not far from there, but was stopped by a lady, although everything was against him, the lack of facts about what he had done before the kidnapping would actually hinder Thranduil, he needed Bard.

The record they could have was of a not very frequented cafeteria, where apparently the defendant bought cigarettes and a pocket knife. And with the license plate badly hidden they could see where else he was, and with that, he would become guilty enough: he spied on the raptured child's house and followed the parents to see his routine, which matched the time of the kidnapping, since when the parents left for work and when the nanny went to the bakery weekly, he attacked. From the cafeteria back to the firm and to other places where they sought information about the man, it was a long day, and even then, nothing more, besides the necessary, was said between them.

One of the firm's drivers was bringing them both back when a strange noise was heard.

And again.

And… once more.

“Sorry, I'm starving.” Bard apologized crossing his arms, trying to cover his belly, and somehow, trying to stop the noise.

“Stop there.” The man with blond hair, sitting in the front seat, on the driver's side, pointed somewhere.

And to Bard's surprise, they stopped at Subway, and to top it off, Thranduil still accompanied Bard inside, even though he wasn't going to eat anything.

While Bard chewed, Thranduil seemed to keep his eyes on the establishment's promotions, or was staring at a random point thinking about something else.

“Look, I am sorry for what happened with your son, I didn't mean to-” He was cutted.

“I know.” The man turned to face Bard. “And I am sorry as well, I overreacted. I shouldn't have acted like that, it was… unprofessional. Childish…” He admitted.

“It's alright, I get it, I am a father too, a single one, which is harder. I'd have done exactly the same.”

Thranduil smiled slightly as he nodded.

“How many children? If may I ask…”

“Three.” Bard said and the other man got his eyes widened slightly, shocked. “I know it's uh- it seems… hard.” Bard giggled. “But they're very calm, my oldest, the only boy, is sixteen, the second, a girl, is fourteen and the youngest is nine.” 

“Nice, my only one is six, his name's Legolas. And yours?”

“Bain, Sigrid and Tilda.”

Thranduil sighed, as if remembering good memories.

“You married?” The blonde man asked.

“Oh… uh, no. I divorced last year, I actually just arrived town. We're you know, sorting things out.”

“And the three decided to stay with you?” Thranduil asked shocked.

“Yes, of own free will, I don't know why, but their mother seemed to be fine with that, probably because she already had another family hidden...” Bard's voice dropped, those memories were painful.

It's not like their mother hated them, she knew it would be better if they stayed with Bard, after all, she betrayed not only him, but all of them. Of course, much of this was not just for the jury, but discussions she had with Bard led to that conclusion.

Thranduil decided not to comment on, instead, seeing that Bard had already finished eating, he got up, and called his colleague to continue their way.

“What about you? You married?” Bard asked as they walked to the car, where the driver was waiting.

“Never was, Legolas stayed with me after one of my girlfriend's pregnancy, she didn't wanted him. So I got the guard.” Bard nodded as he spoke.

“Well, we're not so different huh?”

“I guess we're not Mr. Laketown.” Thranduil said facing the man with a slight smile.

When they arrived at the firm, the two picked up their things and left in time to say goodbye in the parking lot, there was a strange moment when they didn’t know if they hugged each other as goodbye or not, Bard nodded in farewell and went to his car, anxious to get home and see his children again.

[•••]

The days passed and Bard was adjusting to the new routine and his work, he was descending the elevator with Thranduil while they talked about the last court, they said goodbye and Bard went to his car, which was a little ahead of his colleague's, as he tried to start the car for the thousandth time, Thranduil appeared through the window, and Bard opened the door.

“What happened? Is not working?" The blond man asked putting his head into his friend's car, trying to start it.

“No… whore, but what a... SHIT!” Bard screamed and kicked the car tire, trying somehow to deflate his anger.

“Look, we can ask for someone to take a look at it by tomorrow morning, I'll give you a ride, ok?” The prosecutor said putting his hand on his colleague's shoulder, trying to calm him down.

“Oh it's not necessary, really, I can definitely take a bus…” He tried to convince him.

But, another interesting fact: Thranduil is not easily convinced.

“Come on, I'll take you there.” He was already pulling Bard into the car.

Bard and Thranduil lived in the same neighborhood, but in a greater distance, since while the prosecutor lived at the beginning of the neighborhood, and Bard lived at the end of it.

So instead of the usual way, Thranduil came around the neighborhood, in order to leave Bard safe and sound at his home, going to his own, meeting the young Legolas as soon as he enters, sleeping on the sofa in the living room, where the nanny was with him.

He paid the woman who thanked, she have been Legolas' nanny before, that's why the young boy liked the lady's company so much. He held Legolas on his lap, lifting the boy off the sofa and taking him to his room, covering him and kissing him goodnight.

“Goodnight, my little leaf… Daddy loves you.” In response, Legolas scratched his nose and turned to the side, settling on his bed.

[•••]

In the morning of a holiday, Bard went to the only bakery that was not closed, he went on foot since the path was short, and he would enjoy the fresh air of the day, he took some things for the children's breakfast, when he bumped into a man, almost confused him for a teenager, since the man was short, with curly hair and light eyes. He smiled apologetically, and Bard responded.

On his way home, he saw the same man as before, walking in the same direction as him, and to be honest, Bard needed friends.

“Hello!” Bard said taking a short run in order to reach the man. “You live around here? If... I'm not meddling.”

“No, no, it's alright, I- I do. I'm new here, but I do live on the neighborhood.”

“Really? So am I. I got here with my children a few days ago.” He stopped, what was missing him to say? “Oh, my name is Bard Laketown, I live at the end of the neighborhood, next to the uh- what was the name?… Oh! Next to The Douglas’, you know that snack bar?”

“Yes! I do! I am uh… Bilbo Baggins, I live on...” He pointed at a house, just a little far from where they're now. “Right there.” Bilbo had good instincts, and although he was a little naive, he knew who to trust, and for some reason, he trusted Bard. “You're a father you said? I'm raising my nephew here…”

“Wow! Well, yes, I am a single father, have three children.”

“Amazing! You should show up any time, you know… we both are new here, we need to come together, right?” Bilbo said giggling, and Bard nodded.

For the rest of the way, they talked about silly things, and Bard gave Bilbo his phone number, until they arrived at Mr. Baggins' house, that was when they gave a brief farewell, and Bilbo entered the house, watching Frodo run towards him. Frodo's nanny, Rosie Cotton, was looking after Frodo when Bilbo couldn't, and she was a lovely nineteen-year-old girl. Bilbo paid her and as soon as she left, she went to the kitchen to make the pie he owed Thorin.

A little context: Thorin and Bilbo became friends in these last days, with the nephews getting closer and closer, they spent more time together too, and while watching the boys playing, they made a bet, which, obviously, Bilbo lost.

Interesting fact: Bilbo was also terrible at betting.

“Uncle! Can I help you?” The little Frodo said leaning on tiptoe while holding the counter

“Hm… let me think…” Bilbo scratched his neck, as if thinking, and looked at Frodo, who longed with wide blue eyes. “Yes!” Frodo smiled brightly, heavens… how Bilbo loved his little stress pack.

[•••] 

It was three in the afternoon when Bilbo and Frodo finished the pie, it was finally resting while they cleaned up the huge mess they made. And really... it was a huge mess, there was flour in Frodo's hair, and Bilbo still doesn't know how his underwear got dirty with eggs.

"Shall we take the pie to Mr. Oakenshield?" Bilbo asked pointing at the pie with the head.

“Can I share with Fili and Kili?” 

“Of course you can dear… now go change your clothes alright?” Bilbo said bending down to match his nephew.

Bilbo used a kitchen glove to take the pie with, the now, clean Frodo. When he rang the bell he heard a shout that sounded a lot with a bad word, of course, it was three in the afternoon and they rang Thorin Oakenshield's bell, he should be hibernating at that time. When the door was opened, the perfect view of a Thorin with pigtails, pink lipstick and blush spread all over his beard, along with various hello kitty props.

“I thought you had two boys.” Said Bilbo, trying as much as he could not to laugh.

“Exactly. Which is even worst, if it was a girl, maybe the make up wouldn't be so horrible, I could look fabulous at least.” The dismay, no, the suffering in Thorin's voice made the situation even funnier, maybe Bilbo was a masochist, but that was too funny. He looked really sad because he didn't look as handsome as he wanted.

“So Ms. Oakenshield, we brought pie for you.”

Thorin made a noise with his nose, as if he smelled the pie from afar.

“Is it apple pie?” Bilbo nodded afraid Thorin would hit the door in their face. “Come in.”

The afternoon came down to Fili and Kili playing with their new hello kitty makeup kit and a delicious apple pie, as wonderful as the taste of having new friends.


	4. Playing and Laughing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, i took tOO long to write this, bc i was completely out of ideas and inspiration, but i recently started reading the hobbit again, and got really inspired. anyway, this chapter it's just to introduce new characters and to focus a little bit more in our kids, have fun reading :D

Legolas was playing in the garden with some of his toys, and the garden was a battlefield and his toys were fighting a terrible, scary, dangerous and deadly... stuffed kitten. Okay, in Legolas' mind, it was Mr. Big Cat, Ronald, Gilbert and Hanna's worst enemy, also known as Legolas' toys. 

“And Sir Ronald, the Prince, attacks Mr. Big Cat with his magnificent sword!” The little boy narrated with emotion, while the action figures hit each other.

With a huge knock, the puppet playing Mr. Big Cat flew out of the fence, which Legolas' was in front of, the plush would have a soft and dirty fall if it weren't for a figure that grabbed it. 

In a quick movement, Legolas stood up, facing a boy slightly taller than him with his puppet in his hands.

The boy had short black hair and light eyes like Legolas, but due to the tree next to him, Legolas' eyes darkened to a shade of brown. The mysterious boy looked at the plush, he did not understand what that toy would be doing with an already grown child like Legolas.

“Can I have it back?” Legolas asked in a high voice that come out of his mouth when he's afraid.

The boy looked at Legolas, with an unreadable expression on his face, his body remained still, while his head moved to face the toy again.

“Sure.” He said handing the toy to the little Legolas, who kept looking at the boy's face, he seemed so sad.

After thinking, Legolas knew what was the best thing to do, and he did it.

“Would you like to play with me?”

“Hm?” As the questioning moan came from the boy's mouth, Legolas began to repeat the sentence.

“Would you like to play with me?” He repeated.

“Uh… yes.”

“Come in.” He said pointing to the fence door, not far from the boy.

The boy hesitated, but went over to where Legolas was and sat across from him, the blonde gave him one of his toys, smiling to the boy.

“Aragorn.” A whisper came out of the boy's mouth.

“What?” Legolas said, leaning down trying to hear what the boy was trying to say better.

“My name. Aragorn.” He repeated silently.

“Oh, hi! I am Legolas. You live around here?” As Legolas spoke it was possible to notice the difference in the tone of voice of the two boys, although Aragorn seemed older, his voice was higher, and timid. 

When asked, Aragorn nodded, and Legolas repeated the act, giving a signal that he understood.

“What do you like Aragorn?” 

“Hm…” Aragorn thought. “Horses.”

“Horses?” Legolas repeated.

“Horses.” The other boy repeat in affirmation.

“Hm… Horses.” Said the blonde, finding the answer interesting.

“Horses.” A short silence that was formed was soon cut by the loud and mutual laughter of the two boys.

In order not to fall on the grass because of the laugh, Aragorn leaned with his arm on the ground, while Legolas threw himself on the grass, laughing.

And there they were, playing and laughing.

[•••]

That afternoon, Frodo was also in the garden, drawing, when he heard a sound, a voice.

“Hey! Frodo!” Frodo looked around, but saw no one, the boy stood up, and looked around, yet, there was no sign of anyone.

“Frodo! Over here!” A different voice this time called for the boy, who was still looking for where the sound came from.

Suddenly, two figures jumped over the small wall that divided the Baggins' house from the street.

It was Pippin and Merry. The boys Frodo met on school.

“Oh, hello.” That was all Frodo said.

“We saw you from across the street, is this where you live?” Said Merry, the boy he wore a brown coat, and that was all that was within reach of Frodo's eyes, since the other part of the boy's body was behind the wall.

“Yes…” The blue-eyed boy said looking at his own house, analyzing it.

The Baggins' house had just one floor, with a big glass door in the front, through the door, it was possible to see the living room, and a small part of the kitchen counter, and from the same door you could see the corridor leading to Frodo's room and the bathroom, Bilbo's room, on the other hand, was in a smaller corridor next to the kitchen, which could not be seen through the door. Frodo really liked the house.

“May I ask something?” Said Frodo turning to face the boys hanging on the wall. Instead of words, the two light brown-haired boys nodded. “Are you two…” Frodo hesitated. “Half brothers? Or something…?”

“Cousins.” The two boys said at the same time.

“I know it doesn't look like, because I am much more handsome than Pip…” With his eyes closed and one of hands on his chest, Meriadoc spoke proudly.

“What did you just…?” Pippin answered looking at the cousin, the breaking of the sentence in the middle of it gave an even greater mystery to that, a tension blossomed there.

“Oh please, you know that I am the most handsome.” Merry said mockingly, meanwhile Pippin's face took on an angry expression, and his thin lips pressed together.

And in a jump Peregrin went over to Meriadoc, the boy remained standing and held his younger cousin, who was trying, obviously unsuccessfully, to hit him. While the cousins fought, Frodo faced the fight without blinking, probably because it was pathetic, it was nothing like the fights he saw on TV. While "fighting", Merry hurled Pippin into the garden, and jumped on his cousin, while Frodo now watched the fight closely, a voice echoed through the garden.

“WATCH OUT MR. FRODO!” It was the Gamgee boy, alerting Frodo of the fight's nearness, Sam jumped the entrance door with an impressive impulse for a boy of his height, and went towards Frodo, pulling him away from the fight.

Sam knew who the boys were, not much, but he knew enough to know that they were trouble. When they realized that someone else was with them, Pippin and Merry stopped, and got up on the floor, cleaning their clothes, which was full of grass.

“Samwise?!” The two boys said at the same time, looking at Sam in shock. 

Sam huddled behind Frodo for the first time, not defending Frodo, but instead, looking for protection in his friend. Baggins, wondering at the situation, looked at the cousins, why had Sam been so defensive?

Story time: As it was already visible, Sam has always been a quiet boy, he did not maintain relationships as friendships and avoided socializing, the blond boy since he was younger have always been a chubby boy, and has already had “friendships” where he was the main joke. Merry and Pippin were not that type of people, but Sam knew the boys were trouble, and automatically went on the defensive when he saw very outgoing people next to him. The cousins knew they could be very troublemakers, but they were good kids after all, and they didn't want to intimidate Sam, they knew the blond because he was always alone, and the surprise when they saw him there was that he seemed to know Frodo, and vice versa.

“You… you know each other?” Frodo asked looking at the cousins and then at Sam.

“So-so…” Sam spoke in a whisper.

Indoors, Mr. Bilbo arrived in the living room with the newspaper in hands, distracted by the design session, he sat on the couch, he looked quickly to check on Frodo, who had been playing in the garden for a few hours, and then bowed his head, but it got up again when he didn't recognize the other children in his garden. He walked over to the sliding glass door and opened it, bringing warmth from outside the house, Bilbo had the habit of leaving the air conditioning in the room on, he didn't like feeling hot and much less sweating, so the Baggins' house was always refreshing, and eventually, freezing. He walked to the garden and put on his slippers that were on Frodo's ones side, his nephew had the terrible habit of not wearing slippers in the garden, he says that there was no sense in it, and Bilbo hated it, since afterwards, the house was infested with grass. He approached the children who did not notice his arrival, not even Pippin and Merry who had a great view of the door, Bilbo prided himself on being silent, he was almost never noticed, he considered it a talent.

“Frodo?” Bilbo called and not only Frodo, but all the children looked at him. “Aren't you going to introduce me to your new friends?” The eyes fixed on the figures he did not recognize made it clear who exactly Bilbo wanted to meet.

“Oh these are Merry and Pippin.” He introduced the uncle to the children, who smiled without saying anything.

The names were not unfamiliar to him, but Bilbo had a horrible memory, he wrote down all his commitments and chores because if not, he would forget in less than an hour, but Bilbo didn’t remember where he heard those names, and he didn’t bother to remember, he considered himself too old for that, but in our history, Bilbo Baggins was only thirty-six years old, but in the spirit of a seventy-year-old man. He didn't want to disturb the boys, so he sat on one of the garden benches and continued to see the beautiful houses and rooms in the newspapers.

During the game, Pippin and Merry were more pleasant than Sam remembered, and soon, even with a lot of teasing, the four began to understand each other.

And there they were, playing and laughing.

[•••]

“And one, and two, and three and… Ouch!” Since he learned to walk, Kili loved to skip the sidewalk lines, could spend hours in this silly activity, and it was no different from this cloudy thursday afternoon. He jumped while counting, and distractedly looking at the ground, he did not notice the presence of a girl coming towards him, it was when the two collided. 

Kili hit his head on the girl's shoulder while she tapped her chin on Kili's head.

“Oh god!” The girl put her hand over her mouth, even though it hit her chin.

Realizing what happened, Kili had to react, he just bumped into a girl, a very pretty girl.

“I am so sorry! I was distracted and…” God, Kili has never been so ashamed in all his life. “I am really sorry, are you hurted?”

When looking at the girl, she wore a green shirt that was certainly larger than her size, with black shorts that couldn’t be well seen, since the shirt covered a large part of her body, and like Kili, she wore slippers, but what stood out the most was her red hair, it was just below her shoulders, and they were very beautiful, at least Kili thought so.

Angrily, the girl grabbed Kili's hair and pulled hard, making him bow instinctively.

“Hey I said I am sorry okay? I really am! Please don't- don't kill me, I am too young to die!” Kili begged dramatically amid groans of pain.

“I'll cut all your fingers out, and then, I'm going to pluck out your eyes and put it in a pot in my closet! You will have a slow and… painful death.” The girl whispered the last part, approaching Kili who trembled as if it was a cold winter night.

“I- I…” Kili has never been so scared in his life, and he didn't know what to do but close his eyes and wait for death to come, he was such a drama queen.

That's when the redhead started laughing, she let go of Kili's hair and continued laughing like someone who just heard the funniest joke in the world. And of course, that Kili didn't understand anything, maybe it was a ritual before she murdered someone, maybe she was a psychopath, and then Kili came to the conclusion that he saw too many horror films.

“You should have seen your face!” The girl started to turn red with laughter, and Kili red with embarrassment.

“Haha, very funny.” He laughed wryly, crossing his arms, in a defensive position.

“I am sorry, I couldn't help.” She took a deep breath, containing her laughter, she seemed to be trying to control herself, and then spoke again. “I am Tauriel.” He said reaching out her hand, Kili hesitated, but grabbed it. 

“Kili.” That was all he said.

"I have lollipops." Said the girl, holding out two lollipops that were in her shorts pocket.

“Are they poisoned?” Kili spoke, suspiciously.

“Hm, maybe.”

“Okay.” Kili grabbed one and opened it, the strawberry flavor invading his mouth, Tauriel opened the other and the two stayed there, eating lollipops and skipping the sidewalk lines.

Playing and laughing.


	5. Ponytail

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm honestly not feeling really excited to write, which is horrible, but i got really inspired those days and i started this, just another silly update, enjoy it! :D

“LEGOLAS COME BACK HERE FOR GOD'S SAKE I AM TOO OLD TO RUN AFTER YOU!” Thranduil screamed as he ran after Legolas who, besides being naked, was completely wet after the shower.

“I am free! I am Tarzan!” In return, Legolas shouted.

“You are an idiot!” Thranduil had no intention of calling his son that way, but at times he couldn't help himself, and Legolas was polite enough to know that he couldn't repeat the word.

After much effort, Thranduil managed to reach Legolas, who was now tidy. There was no special occasion, but recently it was very hot, and Legolas, having hair up to his shoulder, was sweating more. Only one thing was missing, the ponytail. Thranduil was a very talented man and proud of himself for having so much knowledge, but ponytails have always been difficult for him, although he managed to make some really awkward ones in himself, making them in Legolas that didn't stop still, was much more complicated. But that day, he was lucky. 

The doorbell rang and Thranduil got up from the couch, leaving Legolas on the stool in front of it. He wondered if he had invited anyone, or it could be the post office, although he hadn't ordered anything, and the bills arrived in the mailbox, maybe it was a Jehovah's witness, possibilities came to the man's head as he made his way to the door, but when he opened it he was in for a great surprise. Bard.

“Hey! I-” Thranduil began to speak, interrupting himself to adjust his clothes. “What a surprise! What are you doing here? It's something wrong?” 

“No, no…” Bard looked embarrassed, too. “I just wanted to check something out with you, it's from work… if you... don't mind of course.” Said rubbing his hands together.

“Of course no! I was just, uh- trying to make a ponytail in Legolas.” Thranduil explained himself by pointing at his son and the hairpin in his hand.

“May I?” Bard asked, asking for the hairpin with his hand.

“Of course.” He handed the object to the coworker.

Bard walked over to Legolas, who smiled when he recognized the man, nothing was said, Bard sat where Thranduil was, as he approached, Bard held Legolas's blond strands in his hand, smoothing them out and bringing them to a single spot, where the hand where the hairpin was, when all the strands were together, making a ponytail, Bard ran the hairpin through the boy's hair twice, and released it, seeing the perfect ponytail he had made.

“Wow, thank you.” That was all Thranduil said.

“Oh no problem.” Bard smiled shyly.

After a short silence, Legolas left the room and went back to his room, leaving his father and Bard alone.

“Hm so, what did you want to show me?”

“Yes of course, uh-” Bard stopped to take the tablet out of his backpack, opening the file he had saved to show to his co-worker. “It's here.”

Bard and Thranduil spent the afternoon together, but much of it was them talking about random things and drinking wine.

[•••]

Back to monday, and the young Frodo was getting ready for school once again. Couldn't wait to take the bus with Sam, he wanted to show him his new masterpiece, an origami dog. Where Frodo learned that? Bilbo certainly did not know, but he was proud of his nephew, it was actually really good for a boy of Frodo's age. But between all the excitement, Frodo realized something terrible, something that could ruin his day, something disgusting, terrifying, worst impossible. He had soccer class. I know, it's silly, but if there's one thing that Frodo isn't is, is athletic, though the boy loved to run and play, he hated soccer with all his body. 

“But uncle, why do I need to do it?” Bilbo was putting Frodo's shirt on him, and in the middle of the phrase, Frodo's voice echoed through his own shirt, specifically, the soccer uniform.

“Dear, I hate soccer as much as you do, but honestly, there's nothing I can do about it now, when I enrolled you there no one told me about this, but I promise you that next year you won't have to do it, okay?”

“How much time is left for the next year?” Frodo asked sadly, fearing the answer.

It was February, how could Bilbo say to Frodo that there's ten months left? If there's one thing Bilbo is awfully bad in, it's to lie, but at this moment, he could either say the truth, ‘shit, what do I say?’, Bilbo thought, and instead of saying anything, he just went to pick Frodo's boots. 

[•••] 

On the way to the bus stop, Frodo couldn't stop thinking about how much time was left for the next year. But his deep thoughts disappeared as soon as he saw Samwise, seated alone in the bus stop, with a small package in hands, with his feet that didn't reach the floor swinging back and forth. Frodo let go of his uncle's hand and ran towards his friend.

“SAM!” Said enthusiastically, the blond boy looked at his friend, and a smile crossed his face.

“Hello, Mr. Frodo!” Quickly but still covertly, he hid the package.

“I have something to show you Sam!” Oh, nothing could make Bilbo happier than see his boy happy and enthusiastic. 

Frodo opened his small Star Wars' backpack and took the origami that he carefully kept in there. He showed Sam the little origami dog, who seemed as proud as Bilbo was when Frodo first showed him the origami. And that's probably what Bilbo loves about Sam, he's the older brother Frodo never had, and both loved it.

“It's beautiful Mr. Frodo, you're really good in it.”

“Take it, it's for you.” Frodo fully stretched his arms, proudly giving the origami to his friend. Who accepted it happily.

“I've got something for you too Sir...” As the boy started to say while he handed the small package he earlier had in his hand to Frodo, Bilbo began to wonder why does Sam always call Frodo ‘Mr.’ or ‘Sir.’, it wasn't that he didn't like it, but it wasn't really common to hear this from kids. “I actually made it for you. My mom was making some, so I thought you'd like it, then she taught me how to do it. I hope you like it.” As Frodo took the package in hands, he stared the package, it was a small pink cube with a white bow, it was so beautiful and so well done, Frodo didn't want to open it. “It's a brownie.” The Gamgee boy finally revealed, and Frodo smiled brightly.

Curious fact: Frodo loved brownies more than anything.

It didn't take long for the bus to finally arrive, and the boys made their way to school.

[•••]

The time arrived, it was time for Frodo to face his fear, soccer class. The teacher - which he couldn't remember the name since he was too scared to hear anything else - asked them to kick the ball to the goal, and everyone arranged in line, and luckily, Frodo managed to be the last one, or unluckily. One by one, everyone hit the ball in the goal, and the line was getting shorter, and so was Frodo's heartbeat. And soon Frodo was facing the ball, there was grass stuck to it, hiding the white color it had. He approached his foot to the ball, as his hands went by his back to hold themselves, he put his hands together and pressed, afraid and ashamed, it didn't take long for everyone to start screaming at him, ‘Come on dude!’, ‘Just do it!’, ‘What are you waiting for!?’, and Frodo got even more panicked, all the eyes on him, calls for him, and a lot of pressure, Frodo hated it. His body freezed, in rare occasions Bilbo would have panick attacks too, and Frodo knew how to identify it. Frodo reached the back of his neck and scratched it, nervously. The calls for him kept coming, and Frodo couldn't move, actually no, he couldn't kick the goddamn ball. And he did exactly what a six-years-old would do on this situations: started crying.

He cried shyly, trying not to show his tears for the classmates, he constantly wiped his tears with one finger, trying to be as discreet as possible. The last thing he heard before all the calls stop was a ‘Shh!', and the teacher took Frodo to the field bench.

“Hey, what happened? Wanna talk about?” The teacher asked, calmly and softly, making Frodo feel a little better.

“Nothing.” Frodo hid while wiping tears.

“Frodo, right?” And to confirm his name, he nodded. “Look, it's okay, it's your first class, you don't need to do everything perfectly, and the others didn't help a lot, but things will get better, I promise you.” Frodo would probably not believe in those words if he was an adult, or an teenager, must probably, but he was just a child, embarrassed and facing his first contact with anxiety, something he've never been through it, it's scary. “I need to go, but you can stay here, alright?” Frodo nodded as the teacher smiled and make his way back to where his classmates were.

The soccer classes were as long as any other class, one hour and forty-five minutes, and most of his time, Frodo spent singing songs he knew, until he heared a voice, a small ‘hello’ which came from not far from where Frodo was sat, he turned his face to find who was calling him, soon, he saw someone, a man, and he was quite tall - as he imagined, it was a teacher -, the man approached, and Frodo felt really bad about it, but dammit, the guy had a really big forehead. He sat next to Frodo, smiling.

“I also hate soccer. That's probably why I am a philosophy teacher.” The way the man started a random conversation made Frodo forget that bad feeling he was going through.

“What is phi- phie… pielosophy?” 

“Well I love pies, but I do not study them, it's philosophy. Simply saying, it's the study of nature of all knowledge and reality.” As Frodo seemed like he didn't get a word he said, the man just laughed. “Don't worry son, you'll only study it in a few years.”

Frodo smiled, and without noticing, he was feeling much better.

“I am Mr. Peredhil by the way. Or just Elrond.”

“I am Frodo Baggins.”

“Nice to meet you Mr. Baggins.” The teacher bowed slightly in awe, making Frodo smile.

“It's a pleasure to meet you too, Mr. Peredhil.” Frodo did the same gesture as the man.

And then Frodo realized something, something silly, the man didn't have a short hair, he was with a ponytail.

[•••]

On that very monday, Bilbo was free of the work, and also, bored, so he sat in front of his house and took his cellphone in hand, starting to scroll down through his Instagram. Actually Bilbo rarely posted something on his Instagram, he created it mainly to follow celebrities and because he really liked the way he looked on Instagram filters. Everything was quiet, until he heard a familiar deep voice.

“Hello Master Baggins.” 

Bilbo lowered the cellphone, placing it on his lap, facing the neighbor. “Hello Thorin.”

For a moment, nothing else was said. Until Bilbo noticed Thorin's struggle with his own hair, Thorin's hair was long, and it was a hot Monday, and Thorin fought with his own hair and all the sweet in the back of his neck. Bilbo got up and went to the only wall that separated their house, which wasn't tall, and it was also covered with flowers, a beautiful limit for both houses. Bilbo always have a hairpin in his fist, and it wasn't different on that day, he approached from Thorin, gesturing with the hand telling him to turn around, it took him a few seconds to get what Bilbo was trying to say, but still, he did, turning around, giving Bilbo the vision of his large shoulders and muscular back.

Slowly, Bilbo joined Thorin's hair strands in his left hand, which the hairpin was. As you already know, Bilbo is super interested in Thorin, and couldn't lose that opportunity, so he did it all slowly and when he took the strands close to the neighbor's neck, he ran his fingers around his neck. Bilbo was terrible at flirting, but the guy knew exactly how to touch someone, and that was the perfect time to apply all his knowledge in seduction, when all the strands were together, Bilbo took with the right hand the hairpin, crossing it on the hair, it took only two rounds to complete the action, besides having a long hair, Thorin also had a lot of hair, and Bilbo's still wondering if his first attraction for Thorin came up because he wanted to wash his hair, but this is another story, right? When he finished helping Thorin, he released the hair, and the ponytail he made, fell perfectly as Thorin turned around again.

“Thank you Master Baggins.” Thorin is good in hide his feelings, and right now, Thorin was strangely delighted, and he did all he could to not show Bilbo that this small act melted Thorin. 

But bitch, please, it's Bilbo Baggins, and he's really good when it comes to feelings, but he remained quiet, said nothing since he knew how Thorin was feeling.

“I need to get inside… See yo- you later Master Bil- Baggins.” Thorin realizing he was starting to show how he was feeling, quickly got inside home, leaving Bilbo on the garden.

“Success.” Bilbo whispered happily.


End file.
